Now I know I’ve really gone over to the dark side…

[BirvidikBob]

I was sorting out some ropes the other day. Some were left over from our sailing days on Birvidik I and others were more recent acquisitions, made up since we changed to a stinkpot and moved onto the inland waterways.

It was very noticeable that the survivors from our sailing days were all made off with twine, neatly and lovingly hand-finished with tight sailmaker’s whipping. Our more recent additions, however, were peremptorily finished off with a cable tie. I had, at least, had the decency to trim it.

Could have been worse – I could have just wrapped a bit of duct tape round it.

O tempora, o mores.

 

[mjcoon]

Could have been worse – I could have just wrapped a bit of duct tape round it.

How about a half-way house: heat-shrink tubing?

Mike.

 

[Yngmar]

Zip-ties on ropes are pretty sad, with their protruding knobby bit, even if you melt them with a lighter so they don't try to open your veins (which may well be the logical next step down this path)

 

[mjcoon]

Zip-ties on ropes are pretty sad, with their protruding knobby bit, even if you melt them with a lighter so they don't try to open your veins (which may well be the logical next step down this path)

Yes, it did suggest a solution chosen by someone who expected the rope handling to be done by other people...

Mike.

 

[BirvidikBob]

Yes, it did suggest a solution chosen by someone who expected the rope handling to be done by other people...

Mike.

I can't even plead psychopathic indifference to the suffering of others as I do all the rope handling and Liz does all the wheel wiggling and bowthruster waggling.

So I've only got myself to blame when the rope slips and slice my hand open. I did intend it as a temporary measure, but it's a beautiful example of what our American cousins call a kluge - a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain. It does, however, do the job just well enough for it to become semi-permanent, You will find kluges in such diverse fields as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet slang, evolutionary neuroscience, and government.

And boating.

 

[JumbleDuck]

How about a half-way house: heat-shrink tubing?

The normal stuff comes off easily - I find - but the glue-lined works very nicely.

 

[TC Tuckton]

What about a "yachtsman's whipping"? Wrap masking tape around rope, cut through tape and rope, burn cut end in cooker flame, twist molten end with wet rag to get a smooth end.
This won't work with hemp, but with the right sort of hemp it will smell really nice...